The Daredevil and the Worker
by invaderdorkavatar
Summary: A figure has been tracking and stalking Arthur.  Two twin circus performers and a Frenchman are pulled into his life, changing quite a few things.
1. Start of Their Lives

Alfred hissed as the doctor disinfected a gash in his side.

The doctor shook his head, and Alfred prepared for another lecture. Nearly every doctor gave him the same spiel, so Alfred was more than ready to tune him out.

"Now why in the world would you jump from such a height? A young kid like you is gonna end up dead before your twenty-first birthday." Alfred chuckled at this, not a care in the world.

"What's life without a little risk and fun?" He retorted. The doctor shook his head but accepted Alfred's money, after cleaning him up and prescribing some spray that would speed up the healing process.

"Be more careful; not all doctors accept money and treat people without all their medical info, you know." He narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but wasn't one to reject someone obviously in need, especially if they had the money to be treated upfront.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Thanks for patching me up, doc!" Alfred chuckled as he walked away slowly, holding his side. He wasn't in as much pain anymore, though it was obvious he wouldn't be performing for the next month.

He sighed and Matthew met up with him outside the doctor's office, and helped him to their crowded hotel room that they shared with two other performers.

* * *

><p>Working with a traveling circus certainly hadn't been Alfred's dream career. When his brother and him were kids, Alfred wanted to be an astronaut, or a firefighter, or a cop (it changed every week, it seemed), and Matthew wanted to be a teacher or author.<p>

How they ended up there, of all places, is a bit of a nightmare to all involved.

Their father was a performer for another circus, and their mother had long ago died. They lived with their kind grandmother, in a small house in the country.

It was a peaceful existence, if nothing more.

Still, both of them itched for more excitement and a break from routine. Alfred more than Matthew-Alfred had been restless from the start, always trying to get his brother to join in his escapades and adventures. While Matthew was indeed the quieter of the two, there was no doubt that the same routine every day got boring, even with the most placid and mildest of people.

Both could barely contain their joy when their grandmother had handed them two small tickets, saying that the show was the next day.

The circus had come to town, much to everyone's joy and pleasure. Alfred and Matthew went down to the circus, as planned, with a friend of their grandma's. They were immediately amazed by the tricks, the exotic animals, the people, the dancing, the music…everything. They giggled and screamed in excitement throughout the show, and during half-time they got to ride an elephant and camel.

They loved it so much they decided they didn't want to leave.

As it was closing the next day, the boys went back without letting anyone else know. Their grandmother looked everywhere for the young boys; she called the police not even an hour later, and still no one could find them. The two hid in the darkness of the bleachers at first, and when those were taken down, they quickly switched to the truck where the tent was kept.

As they both looked back, they realized it was an idiotic idea. They ended up traveling about three hours south, clear to another state.

By the time the truck was opened again, both were nearly starving and thirsty, not to mention extremely uncomfortable and cramped. The members merely shook their heads and thought that one of the performer's children had been causing mischief. They sent them to do some basic work, not expecting much from children.

It wasn't until two siblings, Ivan and Yekaterina, realized that the two didn't belong nearly a week later when payday rolled around. Ivan realized first; he went to his sister, the financial coordinator, who then noticed that two extra heads had been added into the mix that weren't on the payroll or marked down as someone's children.

Ivan shook his head, hoping at least one of the two had a useful skill he could sell.

"Now, what do we have here? Did your parents drop you two off, thinking that the circus would take care of you with no troubles?" He stated more than asked, kneeling on one knee to meet (who he assumed to be) the elder brother's gaze. He had shorter hair than the other, and seemed to be much more outgoing and daring. Hesitating, the elder nodded, his brother hiding behind him.

Ivan chuckled and outstretched his hand. "I have pity for you, then. You may stay, as long as you earn your room and board. Sound good, little devils?"

Having been so young and not knowing what else to do, they looked to each other, and the elder outstretched his hand and accepted the offer with a brave smile.

"We'll take it!" He said eagerly, as his younger brother's face brightened up.

Ivan gave a firm squeeze to his hand and stood up. "Then you'll start with simple tasks, and perhaps one of the performers will apprentice you in their art. Do not waste time or money, got it?" Both boys nodded. "Good. I and the others will show you the ropes; do not make me feel as though I've made a bad investment." He warned, not too keen on having his performers work on something that wouldn't bear fruit.

The boys once again nodded. Ivan smiled and waved goodbye, heading towards the direction of his own tent. On the way he instructed his sister to find a place for them to stay permanently.

She led them to her own tent, with a few other girls.

After that, she and the boys became very close, Yekaterina acting as an adoptive older sister for the two.

As it turned out, Matthew, the shy and quiet one, was the older of the two. Not by much though, since they were twins. Alfred seemed to take the role of the protective older brother, throwing a fit when Matthew wanted to apprentice to someone.

Alfred himself had found a teacher quickly. The boy started his training as a daredevil, more than willing to throw himself into danger and perform dangerous stunts to entertain. He greatly enjoyed it, even when he was warned that the job came with an incredible amount of injuries.

Finally, the two settled on something for Matthew. Matthew would be one of the animal trainers and tamers, learning under the watchful eyes of Ivan and two others.

* * *

><p>A month had passed, both of the boys barely three to four weeks into their training. With a little nudging and pushing, Matthew convinced Alfred to call their grandmother.<p>

During their down time, they went to a payphone outside the hotel they were staying at and called her.

She was in near hysterics. "Alfie, Mattie! Oh, please tell me you're both fine! Where have you two been? My lord, I took you both for dead! Oh, my poor grandbabies, you're probably alone and starving and-"

"We're fine, grandma! Matt and I are with circus!" Alfred informed her excitedly, all previous nervousness forgotten. "I'm gonna be a daredevil, and he's gonna be a lion tamer!" Matthew squeaked and attempted to tell him that he would be around more than just lions, but Alfred ignored him and kept blabbering on about the circus, barely letting their grandmother get any words in.

"Devils!" A thickly accented voice rang out. "Practice time, right now! Stop playing with the phone!" Ivan came up behind them and Alfred rushed out a quick 'Goodbye, grandma!' before Ivan hung up the phone. He shooed them off in the direction of the practice area, assuring them there would be play time later.

Matthew sighed and Alfred giggled. As young children, they weren't too concerned with how safe or legal everything was that they were doing.

Their grandmother received calls often, though the twins neglected to tell her where they were at. Unfortunately, she either passed away or she decided to stop picking up the phone not even three weeks after the first call.

The twins had been sad at first, but like all children who barely knew a relative, didn't think too much of it. As six year olds, they couldn't quite grasp the idea of death, and believed that their grandmother's phone had been disconnected, and they'd still find her there if they ever decided to return.

They started to write letters, which of course went unanswered as they never posted a return address.

Their minds were kept busy with life at the circus, which had already proved to be much more exciting than the peaceful and quiet existence they had been living beforehand.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, this is my first real fanfic! Please review, constructive criticism is greatly welcomed. I came up with this last night as I was talking to my best friend, since she herself is writing a fanfic. This chapter took about two hours to write, so I apologize if it's sloppy and seems unplanned. I'll try to update as much as possible, and chapter two is already half-way done!**


	2. The New Boy

Nearly a decade had passed.

Matthew and Alfred were successful at what they did; there was no doubt about that. Both did their jobs with grace and skill that could only be acquired after so many years, which led many to believe that the boys had been born into a circus family (which was only partially true).

Ivan was glad that the boys had turned out to be much more profitable than he had previously thought. They helped attract large crowds, and the kids loved both of them. Over the years he began to feel like a replacement father or older brother to the two, much like how Yekatarina had become their older sister.

Overall, they enjoyed their lives so far. It could be stressful, painful, and just plain infuriating at times, but that came with any lifestyle and career. The friends they made were incredible people, even though most only stayed a month or two, unable to handle life in the circus.

Alfred sighed contently and laid down, wincing slightly, in the grass next to Matthew, who was eating his lunch. It was a rather hot place they were booked at, and Alfred's clothes were sticking to him uncomfortably. Fortunately, the bad weather was something Alfred had grown used to.

It wasn't unlike any other day. A few clouds floated around, the tent was slowly being pitched up for the next week, and most of the members were working or sprawled out in the shade like the twins.

There were a few people who had come to visit: some looking for temporary work, others just curious to see what was happening, and a few who were chatting with friends they knew from the circus.

A boy with bright, blond hair stood out to the side, looking to the scene by himself. He shuffled nervously and Alfred kept his eyes on him. The twins had just turned fifteen, and the boy looked around the same age as them.

Being a friendly sort of person, Alfred stood up and walked over, holding his side, leaving his hungry brother behind. "Looking for work, buddy?" He asked with a broad smile. He took a step closer and noticed a bruise on the boy's cheek, and his smile nearly disappeared.

Had the boy been in a fight? He looked far too small to win any fight against the type of people who started them. More than likely it'd been bullies…

Alfred quickly shook these thoughts from his head.

The boy shuffled again and looked around nervously. "Um, yes, I suppose you could say that…are there any openings?" He said, fidgeting with his fingers behind his back.

He had a thick English accent, which immediately set him apart in Alfred's mind. While there were an unbelievable amount of foreigners traveling with him (both Ivan and Yekatarina were Russian), he didn't know any British people.

Alfred shook his head. "No temporary jobs. We have permanent jobs opening in the concessions stands next week though! Two of the workers are leaving after this next paycheck." Alfred stated, not believing the boy would take those sorts of jobs. No one _ever _wanted to work in the concessions permanently, save for a few people who didn't mind being dirt poor.

The boy stood there a long moment, and seemed to be deep in thought. Speaking as if he was unsure, he looked to Alfred and nodded.

"I'll take one of the concession jobs, then. Would you be kind enough to keep the opening available for me? Or is that asking too much?" He said hastily. Now that Alfred looked, the boy had some striking green eyes. Eyes that looked scared and timid, but very prideful as well.

"Well, normally spots can't just be reserved…" With that the boy tensed and opened his mouth, probably to apologize for wasting time, before Alfred quickly continued. "But I can make an exception!" Alfred said, smiling. The boy blinked and gave a small smile of his own. "Firstly, what's your name?" Alfred asked quickly, turning away and gesturing for the boy to follow him.

The green-eyed boy followed and kept his gaze on the ground, and took a moment to answer. "I'm Arthur. Arthur Kirkland, I'm studying abroad here in the states." Alfred frowned slightly, and stopped at one of the stands being set up to grab a piece of paper and pen, and turned to him again.

"Are you sure you want this job? It's not temporary, and the school year starts in August or September. Students overseas work really hard to get to other countries, I think you should reconsi—"

"It's none of your business." Arthur snapped, furrowing his rather impressive brows. "You need someone who'll work, right? Well, here I am, ready and willing to work whenever you need me." He crossed his arms stubbornly, and Alfred chuckled.

"Alright, alright. Arthur Kirkland, concessions worker, starting next week…" Alfred mumbled to himself as he wrote the information down. He clicked the pen and looked up to him. "I'll get this to the guy who runs the place. I need your age, though." Arthur didn't look very old to Alfred. "We don't really hire anyone under eighteen, but we can always exaggerate, right?" He said with a hint of mischief in his eyes.

Arthur smiled again and looked up to face Alfred. "Well, eighteen's pushing it. I suppose I have no choice though, now do I?"

Alfred smiled and wrote down the number and folded up the paper, and stuffed it in his pocket. "Eighteen's the official story then!" He said enthusiastically, draping his arms over the boy's shoulders. Alfred leaned in next to Arthur's ear, grinning, and lowered his voice. "But just between you and me, how old are you really?" Alfred didn't exactly care a whole lot about his real age, but sort of hoped Arthur was at least a year within range.

A light shade of pink decorated Arthur's cheeks as he replied. "Sixteen. Don't go around telling everyone that though!" He insisted, trying to put a few centimeters of distance between them.

Alfred arched a brow in disbelief. "If you're sixteen and an exchange student, why are you getting a job with the circus?" He snorted. "You so smart you graduated early?" Alfred said jokingly.

After hesitating a moment, Arthur nodded, though he tensed as he did so. "Y-Yes, that's precisely what I did. I've decided to get a job until I'm eighteen, and then I'll go to uni."

"You mean college?"

"College, yes…that's what you call it here."

Alfred didn't quite believe him, but then again, he barely knew Arthur. Alfred sighed inwardly. He was almost certain that Arthur was a runaway; goodness knows the circus got a lot of them.

"If ya say so, genius boy. So you're probably gonna major in art or theater or something, right?"

Arthur tensed again, and gave another quick and hesitant nod. "Theater. I'd like to learn the different techniques and tricks." He averted his gaze and looked to the floor again, the bruise plain as day in front of Alfred's face.

Yup, definitely one of those nervous and sheltered runaways. He was probably looking for something to spice up his life and make his parents angry, if his lack of story and nervous manners were anything to judge by.

"Cool." Alfred said simply. His arm left Arthur's shoulders and he gave a friendly smile, trying to appear as friendly as possible to the boy. "You don't start until like…next week. You wanna hang out in the mean time though? You can watch everyone practice and chill at the shows, and I can get you in for free. Get a head start on those techniques and shit."

Arthur shook his head and reached into his own pocket, frowning. He flipped open a cell phone and glanced at it long enough to check the time, before returning it to his pocket.

"No thank you, but it was nice of you to offer. I really should get going now."

Now this threw Alfred into a bit of an internal conflict. Most runaways showed up and demanded shelter as soon as they were offered it, not wanting to spend their nights in the streets. Perhaps Arthur really was telling the truth…or maybe he hadn't even run away yet. Alfred had been under the impression that he ran away from his country. "Alrighty then. When will you be back?"

Arthur sighed and shrugged. "End of the week, when you're all getting ready to leave. I'm afraid it'll be after midnight. Is that okay?" Arthur looked to him hopefully, and his hands went behind his back, retuning to their original position.

"Yeah, of course! We won't even be leaving until the next afternoon, you can crash with me and my brother. If you don't have a sleeping bag I'm sure we can find an extra one, or you can sleep with me."

Another blush made its way to Arthur's cheeks.

"Sounds like a plan…I'll see you then?" He replied, another small smile gracing his lips.

"Definitely! See ya then, we'll stay up and watch movies or something, 'kay?" Alfred laughed a little, trying to lighten the mood.

"S-Sure…goodbye, it was nice meeting you." Arthur turned and left in the direction they came in. He seemed mildly happy, but was in a rush to get to wherever he was going.

The new boy left Alfred a bit confused, the random bits of information not quite adding up. He frowned, and made a vow to find out just what was going on as he watched Arthur walk away.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Second chapter done! Sorry this wasn't up last night, FF was acting up and wouldn't let me upload anything. Reviews and constructive criticism are, as always, welcome!**


	3. Early Arrival

A week came and went with no sign of Arthur. It really was strange that he hadn't even shown up once, regardless if what he was claiming was true or not. Usually runaways at least came down to watch what was going on from afar, if they weren't chatting up the performers and workers.

It was around six pm, and Alfred had just taken off his bandages on his side. He checked himself in the mirror, whistling low. It still looked pretty nasty, all stitched up and red, while his bandages were stained slightly with blood. He braced himself and poured some rubbing alcohol on a rag, gently running it over the wound and getting the red stains off. He winced and ground his teeth, letting it dry before he sprayed it with the stuff that the doctor prescribed.

He heard the tent flap open and he looked back, and saw Matthew leading Arthur in. Alfred was pleasantly surprised and gestured for Arthur to come over.

"There you are, Matt! I was just about to go looking for you." Matthew chuckled and stood beside Alfred, inspecting his stitched up injury.

"It's looking a little better…you still have a few days to go though." Matthew said sternly, knowing Alfred was restless to start performing again.

"I know, I know…a month to a month and a half off, two and a half weeks in stitches, I got it." Alfred said, a bit disappointed.

Matthew nodded and picked up a roll of bandages, handing them to Alfred, while Arthur looked on, wide-eyed.

After looking for some gauze pads, Matthew finally found a few. He sprayed the pads and gently put them on Alfred's side. "Can you get some medical tape? It's in the bag right there." He turned to Arthur and pointed at a bag down by his feet, waiting patiently while Alfred hissed in pain.

Alfred looked to Arthur and noticed the bruise had healed up a lot, though it was still visible.

Arthur picked up the bag and found the tape, and handed it over to Matthew, who began to instruct Arthur on how to bandage Alfred up. "Al can do the first few parts by himself. Unwrapping, disinfecting, and then spraying, but you or I need to help him with this part. First we put the gauze on with some medical tape—gently though—and then we carefully wrap the bandages around." Matthew said as he wrapped the bandages around Alfred tenderly, obviously not wanting to cause him anymore discomfort or pain.

Arthur nodded as Matthew finished up. "And then you secure the bandages with some tape, and…you're done!" He said, gently pressing the tape to the bandages.

While Arthur had been paying attention to Matthew's instructions, he couldn't help but stare at Alfred's muscular chest and arms while doing so. Arthur would've placed Alfred anywhere between his late teens and early twenties, and found the idea of being the older man's friend sort of…enticing, in a way. He looked down and fiddled with his hands nervously, secretly hoping that he'd get to share a sleeping bag with this handsome stranger.

Alfred rubbed his side as Matthew smiled and turned to Arthur again. "Hope you memorized that. We both get hurt a lot, so it's always good to know what to do incase someone else isn't around to do it." Matthew lifted up a bandaged arm, and fondly remembered the slight accident he had with a hoop set on fire.

"Ah…just to be clear, stuff like that won't happen to me, right?" Arthur asked, not liking the idea of getting injured on a regular basis. Just looking at Alfred's stitched up side and Matthew's bandaged arm made him a bit squeamish.

Both of them laughed. "Nah, if you're not a performer you rarely, if ever, get hurt." Alfred answered, standing up.

"That's a relief." Arthur said with a small smile. Alfred grinned and headed to the far-right of their tent, Arthur following, where an air conditioner, two fans, and two sleeping bags were set up.

"This is where we sleep, obviously." Alfred explained, turning on the air conditioner and sitting down slowly on his sleeping bag. "You can sleep with me if you don't have a sleeping bag. We couldn't find an extra one anywhere, but we can get some more blankets." Alfred said happily, gazing at Arthur's things. It didn't look like Arthur brought a whole lot; just a backpack and two, small bags.

Cheering internally, Arthur shook his head and sat next to him, the blush on his face being mistaken for a flushed expression by Alfred.

"It'll get cooler in here soon, just wait a bit." Alfred explained. He went to stretch a bit and groaned, forgetting about his injured side. "Fuck…these stitches are gonna be a bitch to take out." He stated, resting his hand on his side.

"Don't you just go to the doctor to get them taken out?" Arthur asked, crawling to his other side, closer to the air conditioner. He hoped he wasn't intruding or being rude, but it was hot and humid out that day, and Alfred's rather large body was blocking most of the air flow.

"Nope, I gotta do it or someone here's gotta do it. I've done it before, but it hurts like a motherfucker." He said, grinning at the boy. "You got a _lot_ to learn. Good thing I'm here or you'd be dead the first day!" Alfred exclaimed.

"Oh! About that, I forgot to properly thank you for reserving that spot for me. So…thank you. I hope the owner didn't give you too much trouble about?" Arthur said, a bit worried that Alfred thought he was too much trouble.

"Not at all! We're good friends, he'd do just about anything for me." Alfred replied, lying down on the sleeping bag. "And make yourself at home! Maybe you'll be one of the few that stays more that a month." He laughed, punching Arthur's leg playfully.

"Perhaps." Arthur replied, grinning again. He looked around his new, but hopefully temporary, home. It was quite cozy and homey, but Arthur couldn't shake the feelings of nervousness and fear off. "How did you get in with the circus anyways?" He asked, trying to shake these feelings off.

Alfred thought a moment before replying. "Well, me and Matt—that guy you just saw that looked just like me—decided to kinda…run away to it when we were kids. It was a stupid idea, but before we had the chance to regret it, our grandmother died, I think. At least, that's what makes the most sense…" Alfred explained. Arthur looked a bit confused, and kicked off his shoes. "Anyways, I think our mom died when we were little? I'm not totally sure, I don't really remember…dad ran off to some circus, and that left us with our grandma, but she stopped answering our phone calls or died or something. Matt remembers more than me, so…" It was really next to impossible to remember for Alfred, since he was so young.

"My condolences for you mother and grandmother, then." Arthur replied. Alfred shrugged.

"It's okay, I barely remember either of them…my grandma said she called the police to find us, but, you know…we were little kids and didn't understand. We thought she called them because we were in trouble, so we didn't tell her where we were at, and we lied to Ivan and said our parents dropped us off. Crazy shit, huh?" Alfred said, grinning.

Arthur chuckled and started to loosen up a bit, getting used to Alfred. "Who's Ivan? And sounds interesting…so you've pretty much lived your entire life at the circus. It must be amazing, right?" Arthur asked hopefully.

Alfred nodded and scooted a bit closer to him. "Oh yeah. You get to travel a lot, but Ivan has always kept me and Matt in the states. Ivan's the ringmaster; he's the one that took us in. We stay with one of the performer's families who're French up in Washington. The performer is a little older than me and Matt, his name is Francis. You'll see him around a lot, we're pretty close." Arthur nodded, genuinely interested in what Alfred had to say, smiling a bit at how close Alfred had gotten.

"So you'll just stay in the states then?"

"Well, not this year. They're heading to some Central-American countries, and we're finally allowed to go with them since Ivan got us some passports." Alfred said happily, looking forward to it.

Arthur frowned a bit. "I didn't realize you traveled that far…where exactly are you from?" Arthur thought Alfred was American judging by his accent, but if he learned English at an early age…

"No worries, I really am from America. And I hope you have a passport…if you don't we can get you one or smuggle you in." He said nonchalantly.

"S-Smuggle me in? That's illegal!" Arthur protested. He did have a passport, but his circumstances made him uneasy about using it. "Um…can people track what country you're in with your passport?"

Alfred shrugged. "I don't think so. Afraid your parents will find out?" Alfred said with a knowing smirk.

"I wish."

Alfred's eyes widened. "Are you just here to deliberately taunt your parents?" He asked incredulously.

Arthur shook his head and averted his gaze, staring past Alfred sadly. "No, that's not it, as much as I'd like to say it is."

Alfred felt guilt pool in his stomach. "Oh…did they pass away or something?" Alfred asked, feeling bad for the boy.

Arthur frowned and rolled onto his back. "It'd be nice if I knew that myself." He stated wistfully. "Can we not talk about this anymore?" He said, turning his head to face Alfred.

Alfred hesitated but nodded. "Sure…wanna get something eat then? It's almost seven." Arthur nodded and sat up, while Alfred was simply burning with questions.

Still, he knew he'd have to wait. Most people opened up to him immediately, while Arthur seemed to be determined to distance himself from everyone. It both intimidated and intrigued him, surely a combination of feelings to overcome.

That bruise came into view again, and Alfred began to think of possible scenarios. An abusive father seemed to be the most likely reason, and maybe Arthur regretted leaving home.

Alfred sat up slowly, smiling when Arthur timidly offered his hand to help him up. Alfred was going to keep to the promise he made himself a week ago; find out what he could about the strange boy, Arthur.

Arthur helped Alfred up to the food, though Alfred hadn't needed any help since the first day or so after the accident. Arthur smiled weakly, as if he was afraid to let a full on grin take over, while Alfred pointed out a few things around the place. They ate their meal in contented silence, both in deep thought.

**A/N: And here's the third chapter! It took awhile since I wasn't quite sure what I was doing with this, but I have more of a plot in mind now. Enjoy and leave reviews!**


	4. Of Breakdowns and Talk

They decided to turn in early that night since the T.V. wasn't working, thereby ruining their movie plans.

"Figures, that's why we should've gone to a hotel. All the damn wires and cables aren't lying around, getting stepped on and clawed at and bent up an' shit!" Alfred complained, starting to pull down his jeans, since he had skipped his shirt after being bandaged up again.

Arthur watched as he started to strip himself, smiling at Alfred's little rant as he continued. "See, I'd be fine with this normally, 'cause I usually spend my day practicing or whatever and I'm usually exhausted by eleven. But I'm not allowed to practice or perform with these damn stitches, so my days are so boring without internet or T.V." Alfred slowly put on his pajama pants, wary of how his wound hurt when he bent over, and decided to continue going shirtless.

"Anyways, at least I can talk to you! Matt's probably gonna stay up with some of his friends and won't get here 'till later, so we have the tent to ourselves!" Alfred said happily, not aware he was implying anything other than hanging out to the Brit.

Arthur tensed and quickly dressed in his pajamas. "Right. We're just going to talk, right?" Arthur asked, sitting down and slipping into Alfred's sleeping bag, looking up to him a bit coldly.

Alfred gave him a confused look before answering. "Well, yeah, there's not much else to do in here…unless you plan on buying hookers or something and having sex in here." Alfred joked, walking over and slowly slipping in beside him.

Arthur glared and hit him with a pillow. "I don't want to buy prostitutes! What would make you think that, you pervert?" Alfred laughed, which only caused Arthur's blush and glare to deepen.

"I was just joking! Don't get your whore-buying panties in a twist." Alfred grinned, pulling up some blankets for them.

Arthur rolled his eyes and snuggled into the sleeping bag, warming up in the freezing tent, and feeling a bit foolish. He stayed silent, which cause Alfred to ask his next question.

"You don't really buy prostitutes, do you? I mean, if you do it's totally your choice so-"

"No!" Arthur groaned and kicked Alfred lightly. "I'm still a virgin, you idiot." Arthur insisted, quieting down, a bit embarrassed to be admitting this.

"Oh, okay! Well, you never know, I mean I know there are plenty of people who do buy them, so…" Alfred buried himself under the blankets and sleeping bag, before putting his glasses beside him and turning over to Arthur again.

After a long moment of silence, Arthur spoke up. "Do you happen to be one of those people? Who buys sex, that is."

Alfred chuckled, finding the question amusing. "And what if I am? Oh, poor me, I haven't been able to get laid in a few weeks…maybe I should pounce an unknowing co-worker and then pay him afterwards? One with short, blond hair, green eyes, some bitchin' eyebrows…"

Arthur rolled his eyes again, but couldn't help it as he released a few giggles. "Alright, you made your point…no need to pounce me, yank." He smiled and scooted a little closer, telling himself it was just for the warmth.

Closing his eyes, Alfred wouldn't have even noticed Arthur scooting closer if it weren't for his scent. He smelled distinctly of soil and sea, an odd combination, and Alfred found the scents a bit relaxing. They fell silent, Alfred being too tired to talk anymore since the gash started to throb and hurt suddenly.

Arthur stayed up longer, nervous about everything he was doing. A million thoughts were running through his head, the least of his troubles being the circus people at this point.

Eventually, he managed to fall asleep, after a few hours of breathing in Alfred's scent all around him. It smelled mostly like cigarettes, but had some hints of various foods, and even gunpowder. It was an unsettling mixture, but Arthur found himself drawn to it as he fell closer to sleep, choosing to concentrate on Alfred's scent rather than the things that were bothering him.

* * *

><p>The next day, Alfred had given a tour of the place to Arthur. He showed and explained to him the practice areas, the tents, the mobile homes, the concessions stands, just about everything, impressing Arthur with how much really went into the circus.<p>

"Of course, it changes every time we go to another city based on the surroundings, but you get the general idea." Alfred stated, smiling at Arthur.

"Right…it seems like you and everyone else puts a lot into this." Arthur gave a little smile, finding everything striking, but also nerve-wracking.

Alfred nodded and walked in the general direction of his tent, his arm still draped over Arthur's shoulders since the other male still thought Alfred needed assistance getting around. "Blood, sweat, and tears. They also sell their souls." Alfred laughed and was happy to hear Arthur chuckling softly, since the boy had proved to be quite withdrawn so far.

As they walked back, Ivan and Yekatarina came up behind them, saying a friendly hello to Arthur.

Alfred introduced him to Ivan and Yekatarina, surprising Arthur when he conversed with them briefly in Russian. Ivan frowned at whatever Alfred was saying, and Arthur couldn't help but feel it was about him. Ivan turned to the boy and extended his hand, smiling politely. Arthur took it and Ivan gave a surprisingly gentle shake, considering his large size and intimidating demeanor. "Another one of Alfred's friends, I see. You are welcome here as long as you work." He said authoritatively, pausing to stare at the discoloration on Arthur's face.

"Yes, of course, I'll be sure to work hard, Ivan." Arthur replied, keeping a neutral tone and averting his gaze, instantly understanding why he was the leader. It was hard not to listen to him, doubly so not to obey what he said.

Ivan nodded and bid them goodbye, instructing Alfred to get more sleep in Russian as he walked away. Alfred rolled his eyes, but smiled fondly. "If you stick around long enough he'll warm up to you. He's strictly business at first, but he turns into a big puppy over time." Alfred chuckled, quickly returning to finish their tour, while Arthur looked around, the slightest bit of happiness showing.

* * *

><p>The traveling was incredibly rough for Arthur. They packed up in a run down, hot, sweltering, motor home, and headed down south. It was bumpy and uncomfortable, not to mention Arthur had to share a small bed with both Alfred and Matthew. Even though he only spent one night in the tent, he already greatly missed it. The small motor home they had was packed with seven other people, which was barely acceptable even in decent conditions.<p>

The twins were used to the heat and slept in a tank top and boxers, but Arthur was incredibly tempted to sleep naked and on the roof. He wore only his boxers, finding even that almost too much, and demanded to be closest to the small, open window. He also futilely tried to distance himself from the two hot bodies lying in bed with him, and he always found himself in a messy tangle of limbs and sweat went he woke up.

Showers were a pain too. There was only so much water, so he had to share. He didn't know the others very well, so he either bathed with Al or Matt or went without a shower at all.

There was no such thing as privacy, and they went a good five days like this. By now Arthur had grown used to seeing both of the twins naked, and didn't even bat an eyelash at shower time. The first time was with Alfred, which had Arthur blushing like mad and covering himself shyly, shuddering whenever he accidentally bumped into Alfred in the small shower. Alfred was a bit nervous as well, and admitted he only ever showered with his twin. He blushed lightly at every touch at first, but eventually got used to it.

The second time was with Matthew, who told him that's how the showers were all the time unless they were staying at a hotel, which dashed all hopes that it was just a traveling thing for Arthur. He learned to get used to it, and made them both promise they wouldn't make him shower with a complete stranger.

Still, he couldn't get used to such living quarters. He got into a few fights which Alfred and Matthew had to break up, the heat and lack of privacy causing him to be mean spirited and grumpy.

Everyone seemed to smoke as well, which didn't bother Arthur at first. But soon his chest and stomach started to hurt from how much the people in the motor home were smoking, and he had to throw up a few times because he couldn't take it. Before then he had been exposed to cigarette smoke in small doses, but never like _this. _

Even Alfred smoked, and he had offered Arthur a cigarette more than once. He declined a few times before letting curiosity win, and allowed Alfred to light him up one. He took one huff of it before choking and sputtering and throwing it down to the ground, which earned a few laughs from Alfred and everyone else.

His bruise had completely healed, but his skin was soon dotted with blemishes of a different variety. When they had stopped in a rest area, Arthur managed to get into a small skirmish with one of the members. The other man pushed Arthur in the surrounding wildlife, teeming with poison ivy.

Alfred pulled him out and sprayed him with a hose, but by the time he found and hooked it up, Arthur was already unbearably itchy. The damage had been done, and now he had to have Matthew help apply the itching cream for him.

He was on the verge of breaking down in tears and quitting the entire thing, feeling far too cramped, ugly, and stressed. He was used to his own room, private showers, and a relatively quiet house in the countryside. And for him to change so suddenly was certainly nothing good for him.

There were also other things on his mind that were far more important, and one night he suddenly started to tear up and sniffle, which turned into full on body shaking sobs when one of the members asked him what was wrong.

"I can't fucking live like this!" Arthur screamed back through tears and sobs, feeling pathetic for crying in front of people. He honestly couldn't remember a single time where he cried in front of anyone, his pride always too big for it.

But at that moment, he couldn't care less what anyone thought of him.

"I just want to go home! I fucking hate this, w-w-wh…" Arthur couldn't finish his statement and stood up, storming to the cramped room, throwing a rather violent fit to let out his anger.

Alfred came in and leaned against the doorway, and along with a man who was lying on the floor, watched him cry, throw things, kick the furniture, and scream until his voice was nearly hoarse.

Eventually Arthur calmed down and curled up in the bed, sniffling. The man rolled his eyes and fell back asleep, while Alfred sat next to Arthur and tried to comfort and talk some sense into him.

"Look, we're arriving in Florida tomorrow. We'll have a hotel room too, so you'll get more space and time to yourself. And it'll just be with me and Matt. Sound good man?" Alfred said soothingly, smiling slightly. Arthur looked to him with his puffy, red eyes and nodded.

"Y-Y-Yeah…I guess." Arthur was already feeling embarrassed, and covered his head with his arm.

Alfred nodded and rested a comforting hand on Arthur's shoulder. "Come and talk to me whenever, okay? I know it's hard at first, believe me, I've seen worse fits than that. If you can get through the first three months, you're good to go buddy." Arthur nodded again, and slowly sat up.

"A-Alright…just promise me no one will smoke in the hotel or barge in while I'm showering, okay?"

"No problem. Is that the reason you've been throwing up?" Alfred asked, concerned. Arthur nodded weakly, resting his other arm on his stomach.

"I'm not used to the smoke. It's been giving me terrible headaches too, it would be a great help if everyone would just smoke outside." Arthur liked the smell when he was in the tent, but that was because it was faint and didn't make him ill.

"Oh, good thing! I thought you were anorexic, but I was kinda afraid to ask." Alfred admitted. "But I'll get them to smoke outside next time if it's making you that sick dude."

Arthur looked to him gratefully. "Thanks. You're a good friend, Matt too…I really miss my old friends. But…you guys are both incredible, you know that." Alfred beamed and smiled, before Arthur continued. "You both also look remarkably like one of my friend's boyfriends back in England. He was quite the looker, and he was energetic like you, Al." Arthur commented, sniffling, but smiling weakly. He looked out the window, smiling sadly.

He recalled another tall, blue-eyed blond from Denmark that one of his friends had dated. He was terribly loud and obnoxious, but at least he was kind and loyal when the time called for it. Alfred reminded him of the boy, and Arthur would give anything to be back and making fun of his antics and laughing whenever he did something stupid.

"Boyfriend? Like, two guys dating, right?" Alfred asked, disbelief clear.

Arthur narrowed his eyes and deemed it best not to explain further. "It's nothing, never mind." He laid down on the bed again, avoiding his gaze and closing his eyes, hoping Alfred wouldn't push it.

Alfred looked down at him skeptically. "No, really. You had a gay couple at your old school?" Alfred lowered his voice, determined to get an answer. Arthur stayed silent, pretending like he didn't hear Alfred. "Are you gay?" He questioned, suddenly showing intense interest.

"What if I am?" Arthur said softly, once again covering his face. Alfred thought for a moment and shrugged.

"I dunno." He stood up, acting a bit distant now, feeling a bit uncomfortable around Arthur. Arthur laid in the bed and ground his teeth together, cursing himself for letting that bit of information out. What if Alfred told the others he was gay and they didn't like that? They could easily drop him off in the middle of nowhere, and he hadn't exactly made a good impression with all the fighting and the fit he just threw.

"Um, I'll get you something to eat or whatever." Alfred said after a minute of awkward silence, walking out of the room.

Arthur sighed and said nothing else to Alfred the rest of the night, and for the first time Alfred managed not to get tangled up with Arthur by morning.

* * *

><p>When they arrived in the afternoon the next day, Arthur nearly jumped for joy. He was given a hotel room to share with the twins, and Arthur was acting like he'd just received As a plus, they were staying for almost a month because all their recent bookings were all within the same area.<p>

Arthur plopped down on the bed and stretched out. It was clean! It was cold! There was room! And he could take all the showers he wanted, alone! He rolled around, smiling and curling up in the blankets, when Alfred plopped down next to him and chuckled. "It's a lot better, isn't it?"

Arthur nodded and sat up. "So much better. A million times better!" He exclaimed, lying down again. Alfred laid down beside him, also happy to be staying in a nice hotel room.

They stared at each for a bit, before Alfred broke the silence. "Um, about last night…I have a few questions." Arthur froze and swallowed thickly.

"About what?"

Alfred looked around nervously, fiddling with the ends of his sleeves. "Stuff. Well…just promise me you'll answer honestly, okay? I have nothing against gay people, even if I acted like it last night. I was just…surprised." He said. Arthur hesitated but nodded, taking in the apologetic look on the boy's face.

"Alright…fire away." Arthur stated, chuckling a bit.

"Okay, so, um…are you gay? I really need to know that first!" Alfred insisted.

Arthur sighed and mentally prepared himself. He'd grown to trust Alfred, and he was the closest friend he had om this whole mess. He also thought he had an obligation to tell Alfred something like this, and slightly regretted not telling him this earlier.

"You're the first person I've told, so please keep that in mind." Alfred nodded, instantly knowing what Arthur was going to say next. Arthur paused and continued, nervous to be admitting this. "Yes, I am gay. I like men. I understand if you don't want me sharing a bed or showering with you anymore, of course, but I hope…I hope it's not a problem. I'm still the same person I was before." He stated, desperately hoping Alfred wouldn't view him any differently.

"No, see, that's great! Because, I um…I've been wondering about that stuff, and no one really talks about it, so I thought I was…" Alfred searched for the right word. "Weird? Abnormal? And these…feelings have been bothering me. I was hoping you would…help me a little?" Arthur nodded understandably and sighed in relief, remembering how lost he had felt about everything not even a few months ago.

"Of course I'll help you. I know how it feels, so…even though I'm new at all this myself, I can still try." Alfred smiled at his words and sat up, suddenly self-conscious about asking questions to Arthur, who seemed so much more experienced to Alfred when it came to this. He didn't want to appear immature or young, and felt that Arthur would find some of his questions ridiculously stupid.

He was about to ask another question when Matthew walked in, wearing a tank top and some shorts, along with what appeared to be some protective gear on his arms. "Hey guys! Came up here to get some spray." He said cheerily, walking over to his bed and rummaging through a bag.

Alfred glared, but not because Matthew had interrupted them. "Where's your leg protection? You'll get hurt!" He said protectively, standing up and walking over to him. His eyes roamed over Matthew's legs, searching for any injuries. Matthew rolled his eyes and found the spray he was looking for.

"Honestly, Al…I know what I'm doing." He said, a bit agitated, but still smiling.

Alfred seemed to have forgotten all about his and Arthur's previous conversation, and started to dote and lecture Matthew on safety precautions.

Arthur chuckled weakly, amused at how Alfred could switch from an insecure child to a confident and protective brother in no time at all, and stood up himself, intent on taking a shower by himself for the first time in five days.

As he gathered his clothes, Alfred insisted on going down with Matthew to practice, and waved good-bye to Arthur. "We'll continue our conversation another time, alright Artie?" He said, showing a tiny bit of nervousness.

Nodding, Arthur made his way into the bathroom and stepped in the tub, hot water pouting on him, wondering just how a shower could be so relaxing and amazing.

Meanwhile, a small bug peeked through an opening under the sink, before losing interest quickly and scampering off.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for all the reviews and favorites, you're all amazing! Please continue to review, it's greatly appreciated! And that bug will play an important role, and you can thank VampireHetalia for helping me with ideas and smoothing out the plot!**


	5. A Job and the Frenchman

Over the next week, Arthur had quickly learned how to run the concessions stands, which really wasn't a bad job. It was long and boring, yes, and the tasks were repetitive, sure, but it was simple enough to do. Alfred had also been assigned concessions since he was in a more suitable condition for work, and Ivan said once they went to another state the next month Alfred could finally perform again.

Their little discussion from before hadn't been continued that week. Alfred was too nervous and embarrassed to ask any more questions, and Arthur wasn't exactly jumping with joy to discuss such things. Still, both of them knew it was only a matter of time until Alfred was simply dying to know something and would (or could) only go to Arthur.

It was a fairly peaceful week, no injuries, no complaints from the customers. Alfred chattered with Arthur on their breaks, telling him about how much he loved to perform, despite the obvious problems with it all.

Today he was pretty much telling Arthur the same thing, only with different wording. Arthur listened happily though, grinning at Alfred's enthusiasm for everything. "It's such an adrenaline rush! Just…it's just something you gotta experience Art. It's like you're flying, and then BAM! You hit the ground like a fuckin' bomb. Only, minus the exploding. But sometimes you do get hurt, so…" Arthur laughed, sitting up on the small counter in the stand.

"Sounds like quite the thrill." Arthur said, which caused Alfred to smile in joy. Though Arthur had said the same thing yesterday, and the day before, but Alfred didn't seem to care. Arthur quickly continued the conversation, steering it in Alfred's direction. He tended to avoid talking about himself. "Now how exactly did you get that nasty gash? I've been meaning to ask, hope you don't mind." Arthur asked, looking to Alfred's side.

Alfred smiled even wider, this time out of a twisted sense of pride. "Did a flip in a car. It didn't go right, and I ended up starting a small fire once they pulled me out…a piece of glass dug really deep in my side, and it hurt like hell." Alfred said, wincing a bit at the memory. "That's why I still got these stitches in. Matt's gonna take them out tomorrow, thank god. They're ugly as shit to look at." He said with a laugh.

Arthur laughed along, though he couldn't imagine being in Alfred's situation. "You must be pretty strong, to be able to stand that glass and everything. Do you get hurt like this all the time?" Alfred nodded, chuckling when a look of horror spread over Arthur's face.

"Yeah, usually one thing or another's messed up. This week it's my side, next it's my arm, next it's my leg! All the other performer's get messed up too, like Matt. He wasn't wearing the protective gear and set a hoop on fire, thinking some anti-flammable spray would do the job. Obviously, it didn't." He laughed, while Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Him? Oh, you, sure, but Matthew? He doesn't seem the type to make such a careless mistake." Arthur said with a smirk.

"Hey! For your information, I'm way more precautious than Matt. Matt thinks all the animals are his friends, and then blames it on the other trainers when they act up. Me, on the other hand, I know that those metal death traps are anything but my friends." Grinning, Alfred lifted his shirt up. "See, I got like a million scars from my stunts and everything. Some are more memorable than others." He said proudly.

Alfred pointed out a faint one that ran opposite to his current injury. "This I got when I was like eight. I thought it'd be hilarious to taunt one of Matt's goats. Asswipe ran straight into me and I had to get a shit ton of stitches!" Arthur snorted and laughed.

"That's what you get for being idiotic, Al." He said teasingly.

"Yeah, yeah, that goat was just a douchebag. And this one," He stated, pointing to a round scar. "is from standing on one of those poles. Usually they have a cover to prevent shit from happening, but I wanted to be more 'dangerous' and took it off in the middle of the performance. I tripped and fell onto it, and if it weren't for the other daredevil pulling me out in time, it would've gone straight through my entire body!" Arthur gaped at him, more horrified than amused.

"Why in the right mind would you do such a stupid thing?" He asked, wondering just how long this man managed to survive pulling stupid things like that.

Alfred chuckled and shrugged. "Wanted to make it more interesting. I probably ended up mentally scarring a bunch of people instead of entertaining them though." Grinning, he paused before continuing, recollecting the whole thing. "Man, I was out a long time for that. A good four months. As soon as I was able bodied Ivan slapped me right across the face for being an idiot. And then he slapped me four more times for good measure, one slap for each month I was out." Arthur's eyes widened.

"He beats you?" He asked incredulously, hoping Alfred wasn't being serious. He was fascinated with his story, but suddenly became concerned for him…which was a bit silly when Arthur thought about it, since Alfred had lived through much, much worse injuries.

Alfred shrugged again. "It was just slapping. Besides, it was my fault for screwing up the whole thing. Everyone asked for their money back, I couldn't perform, all that junk. Cost him a lot of money I did. And he only does it when I fuck up." Alfred said nonchalantly, acting like it was a normal thing to do.

"That's not right, an adult hitting a child like that…even worse since he's your boss. Aren't there some legal issues there?" Alfred laughed and put down his shirt.

"Seriously? You're worried about legal issues? This is the circus, I don't think anything's legal here. And besides, a slap to the face is nothing, even if it's by Ivan. However, I don't think your pretty face could handle a beating from him." While Alfred laughed, Arthur could feel his face heat up. Sure, he wasn't as built or as strong as Al, but he liked to think he could take a damn hit!

"Well, I got into a few fights this past week! I can take a hit." Arthur insisted, which only had Alfred looking at him bemusedly.

"If you say so, Artie. Those scrawny acrobat dudes are nothing compared to Ivan. Man's built like a fucking horse."

Arthur scowled and rolled his eyes, before Alfred continued. "And anyways, even if I did have a problem with him occasionally slapping me, I'd have nowhere to go. I'm actually listed as dead. Matt is too."

Arthur stared at him, mouth agape. "You're listed as dead? Then how did you get the passports?" He asked, already guessing what the answer would be.

"They're fakes." Alfred said with a devilish grin. Arthur made a noise of disapproval.

"I figured. Just how much of this whole thing is legal anyways?" At this question, Alfred grinned again.

"Just like I said earlier, I don't think anything's legal here to be truthful…I think maybe the animals are kinda legal? Like, Ivan has a license and they get checked up on and everything, but it's under a fake name. For me and Matt we just go by our real first names, but our last names are listed as Bonnefoy."

"After that French man?" He said with an obvious hint of disgust.

Alfred chuckled again. "Yup, after him. Ivan and him got all our fake papers and we're listed as nineteen I think, which is why no one ever bothers us with school or anything." Arthur frowned. He'd forgotten he was older…sometime that past week he learned that Alfred was, in fact, his junior by one year. It certainly crushed the idea of having a strong, older, wiser friend by his side, but had given birth to the idea that he could possibly guide the American and take him under his wing.

"I don't like that man…Francis, that is."

"And why's that?" Alfred asked. Sure, the French man was flirty and sometimes got carried away with it, but Alfred rather liked him and admired him as a sort of mentor.

"Well, the first time we met—which was just two days ago mind you—he thought it would be fabulous to greet me with two kisses to the cheek and proceeded to wrap his arm around my waist. Far too affectionate." He huffed, frowning.

Alfred rolled his eyes with a laugh. "He's like that to everyone. Don't let it get to you, he's just a flirt and doesn't mean anything by it." The American said, smiling.

Arthur gave another huff. They chatted for a bit longer about nothing of importance, before the show ended and people came rushing out to get snacks, toys, animal rides, and pictures.

A man in the crowd hovered around the stand Arthur and Alfred were working. Neither had paid any attention to him at first, thinking he was waiting for someone.

Soon the crowd dissipated, and the man absentmindedly looked over and pick up some of the wares, seemingly with no intent on buying anything. He walked with an unnatural gait, taking long and mechanical steps, and said nothing.

As it started to grow dark, the man started to stumble around. Alfred frowned and paused in his packing up, thinking the man was lost and needed help. He bent down for a second to lay a box on the ground, and turned around.

He blinked and frowned. The man was nowhere in sight. Arthur was also looking around, tensed up and scowling.

"Did you see an odd man just now?" He asked Alfred.

"I was just about to ask the same thing." Alfred replied, chuckling. "Man, what was up with him? He walked like a robot or something."

"Thought I was going insane there for a second…but yes, he did walk rather strange…did you see that bright blue mark on him?"

"Mark? I didn't see anything like that." Alfred answered, returning to his packing.

Arthur frowned again and shook his head. "Tell me if you see him again, alright?" Alfred nodded.

The rest of the night went without incident, though neither of the two could shake the feeling of uneasiness off.

* * *

><p>The next day they needed to move everything to another town, which surprisingly didn't take too long since only a few more things needed packed and loaded.<p>

They managed to get the rest of the day off, and spent a few hours with Matt and Francis at a small outdoor cafe.

Arthur thought that the whole thing had gotten off to a bad start. The Frenchman hugged and gave two kisses to all of them, which had Arthur nearly growling and tempted to make an excuse to leave.

Once they sat down and ordered their drinks and snacks, the situation didn't improve.

"So, you are from Britain, correct?" The Frenchman asked, gazing at Arthur with a small smile.

Arthur resisted rolling his eyes and avoided his gaze. He couldn't force himself to like the man much, despite both Alfred and Matthew's good words. He tolerated him, but he hoped that there was more to the flirt than what he'd seen so far.

"Yes, I'm from Britain…I lived in the countryside. It was nice and quiet." Arthur stated simply, hoping Francis would pick up on the 'quiet' part.

"Ah, a country boy I see! Now what do you think of the big cities?" He asked. Francis found the English boy's abrasive and avoidant nature charming, and inwardly laughed at how hostile the boy seemed to be.

"They're nice I suppose. Noisy." Arthur attempted to appear as uninterested as possible without being rude so he could stop talking to this man, but Francis seemed to be an experienced conversationalist, and refused to let the their chat die.

"I feel the country suits you then. Quiet and rather elusive, with much to be explored and learnt about. Am I correct?" He asked, smiling and taking a sip of his drink.

Arthur frowned again, and furrowed his brows. "You make assumptions about people too quickly." He snapped. He looked to him again and saw both Matthew and Alfred glaring disapprovingly. "Though I suppose you're correct, in a way." He amended begrudgingly, avoiding his gaze once again

Francis smiled again and said no more, letting Alfred and Matthew take over the conversation.

"So you still planning on sticking around for a bit?" Matthew asked, munching on a pastry and busily pressing buttons on his phone. Arthur looked to Alfred and saw he was doing the same. One thing he'd come to learn was that the twins spent nearly all their spare time on their phones or laptops, something that Francis didn't seem to be the least bit fazed by.

"Well…I really only want to stay a few months more, to be honest." The twins' expression's fell at this.

"Really? I mean, I know the pay's shit, but I was kinda hoping you'd stay longer…" Alfred said, frowning.

Arthur shrugged. "Well, it all depends I guess…we can still be friends online and call each other."

This only deepened Alfred's frown. "It's not the same." He murmured, scooting a bit closer to him and putting away his phone. Arthur smiled weakly, making no move to distance himself from Alfred.

Francis coughed lightly and stood up. "Well, it was a pleasure officially meeting you." He smiled and gestured for Matthew to stand up. "Matthew and I will be practicing. We won't be back until late." Matthew chuckled and left his share of the bill behind, while Francis did the same and gave them an amused look. Waving goodbye, Matthew and Francis left, leaving the Brit and the American to their own devices.

Arthur yawned and blinked when he felt Alfred leaning on his shoulder. "We should get going…" Arthur suggested, stiffening at the contact.

Another thing Arthur had found out was that the twins were quite affectionate. Matthew seemed to reserve it for Alfred, Francis, and Yekatarina, though Alfred was known to give just about everyone hugs. Ivan normally pushed him away and shook his head, while Arthur would give him an awkward pat on the back. Though they'd grown close during the past two weeks, he still didn't like being touched suddenly, especially since Alfred knew this.

Arthur had mentioned several times he at least wanted a warning before any sudden touching, but his pleas were either ignored or forgotten among the other things Alfred knew about him. Alfred often questioned and pestered him for answers and new information, which the Brit nearly always gave. Arthur usually talked about his brothers, his home, his friends…but tended to change the subject when Alfred started to ask him about the present and his not-so-distant past.

And of course, Alfred was an open book most of the time. Like Arthur though, he shied away from one certain subject: anything pertaining to his or Arthur's sexuality. He found the topic a bit taboo, especially since he knew Matthew could be listening in through the door or pop in at any time.

"Alright…back to the hotel room?" Alfred asked, lifting his head and pulling out his wallet, laying the money for the bill and tip down.

"As always." Arthur replied, standing up. Alfred followed not long after and together they left the café, walking in a contented silence.

* * *

><p>Once they got back they flopped down on the bed, not knowing what else to do.<p>

Arthur slipped under the covers, in the mood for an afternoon nap, when he felt Alfred slip in beside him. Arthur didn't say anything, figuring Alfred decided to catch a little sleep with him, when he suddenly spoke up.

"Do you ever wonder where Matt's always at?" He asked, speaking softly.

Arthur thought for a moment. "Well…now that you mention it…he's gone nearly every night, and only tells us he's going anywhere on the weekends. The rest of the time he just disappears." He replied before yawning.

"So I'm not the only one who's noticed! He didn't use to do this…he started staying out late like a week after our birthday, so maybe a week or two before you came along. He never tells me where he's actually at…I just thought he was practicing." Alfred frowned and covered his head with a pillow.

Arthur raised a brow. "Until two a.m.? That's doubtful…it has to be something bad or else he'd tell you."

"Exactly! I dunno, maybe he's just out partying or something…that's what normal teens do, right?" He said, looking to Arthur.

The Brit frowned. "Why are you asking me this?"

Alfred shrugged. "You're older and more normal than me…I just thought you'd know about that stuff."

Arthur furrowed his brows again. "Well, I went through a little rebellious phase around fifteen…I did go to parties, but I haven't been to one in nearly half a year." He admitted.

Alfred's eyes widened. "Really? Are they fun? Were you popular?" He asked, smiling.

Arthur couldn't help but chuckle. "I suppose they're fun, for certain people. It's not the thing for me anymore, I think…at least not on a regular basis. And I was more in the…punk crowd. You know the deal. Piercings, dyed hair, outrageous clothes…" Alfred grinned and blushed lightly, but hid it with the pillow.

"That's so cool! Could you get me into a party?" Alfred asked eagerly, resting his head in the crook of Arthur's neck.

Arthur sighed and rested his hand on Alfred's shoulder. Well, Alfred was certainly feeling cuddly today. He never got this close when they shared a bed… "Well, I could, I guess. It's not that hard if it's a big party. We could just ask Matthew, he probably gets in with one of his friends."

"There's no fun in that! We should totally sneak in!" Alfred said excitedly into his neck.

Sighing again, Arthur relented. "Alright. We'll sneak in if we get word of a party, okay?" He hesitated, but wrapped his arm around Alfred, and nuzzled into his hair.

"Sounds like a plan!" Alfred replied. He snuggled closer with Arthur, feeling safe to do this now that he knew Matthew would be gone.

It wasn't long before Alfred started to speak again. Since Matthew was gone and he felt more relaxed, he gathered his courage slowly, continuing their discussion they had a week ago. "So…how far have you gone with a guy?"

Arthur blushed furiously at his sudden question and fisted Alfred's shirt, but decided to be honest again. "A hand job…and I let some boy finger me. That's it though. I've done nothing with girls though, if you were wondering that." Arthur prepared himself for the new onslaught of questions, knowing the young boy needed answers, however reluctant Arthur was to provide them.

Alfred frowned. "How do you know for sure that you like men?" Now this question had been the one that received the most thought from Alfred, and he figured it was the most important.

Arthur sighed and shrugged. "I don't know…liking a man is just like liking a girl. You get butterflies in your stomach, you blush and squirm, you want to spend all your time with them…once that happens, regardless of sex, then it means you like that person. Does that make sense? You shouldn't really let sexuality define you, I think…just fall in love with whoever makes you happiest and try not to antagonize yourself over it." He hoped he didn't sound cheesy or dumb, but it was the best answer he had for Alfred.

The taller of the two thought over this, deciding he rather liked this explanation. "I never thought of it that way…s-so, um, do you like anyone like that?" Alfred silently thanked Arthur's neck and the blankets for hiding his blush.

"Well…not really. I don't think I've had more than a small crush on anyone, to be honest…I try not to get too attached." He answered. Arthur snuggled closer when a brief thought flashed across his mind. He thought that he might be happy if Alfred would develop some sort of crush on him. He smiled at the idea of getting to snuggle like this all time, and going on dates, and holding hands…he quickly shook these thoughts from his head though, knowing he'd be gone within a few months.

"Oh…I'm still thinking over it. There is a certain person, but he's a man…I'm not sure how I feel at all." Alfred said, a small frown appearing.

Arthur smiled reassuringly and spoke confidently. "I'm sure he'd like you back if you told him. You'll figure things out, I'm sure." Arthur wanted to believe it was him the boy had a crush on, but assumed that Alfred only saw him as a friend, and also assumed the American wouldn't let himself get too lovey-dovey with someone who wouldn't be around long.

The conversation ended as they both dozed off.

Arthur trembled slightly in his sleep, an extra set of eyes setting its sight on the boys, making both of them uneasy and nervous again, even if they weren't aware of it.

The bird had looked on and listened to the entire conversation throw the screened window by the bed, and like the bug and man, simply disappeared about an hour into their nap.

* * *

><p>Alfred yelped in pain as Matthew ripped his stitches out sloppily. Arthur winced for Alfred, making a surprised sound at how unceremoniously Matthew had taken them out. Blood trickled down Alfred's side, a feeling he was used to by this point in time.<p>

He had been a bit sleepy and groggy beforehand from his nap, but the pain jolted him completely awake.

Matthew quickly sprayed his side and applied some pressure with a towel until the bleeding stopped, and inspected over it.

"Looks good…you can probably get away with just wearing some gauze pads now." Matthew chirped in what Alfred thought to be a slightly sadistic tone.

"Thanks." Alfred replied sarcastically, eyes widening when Arthur suddenly applied some of the gauze pads to his side.

"You're welcome." Matthew replied with a small laugh, adding the finishing touches to his costume. It was similar to Alfred's performance costume, a showy Chinese long gown. It was a bit stereotypical, with golden twin dragons overtaking the black background, along with a golden tasseled belt that tied around the waist. The hat had the same color scheme, though it was more a helmet than anything else.

Still, the ornate gowns covered their protective gear incredibly well without looking strange, and looked amazing next to each other since they were designed to depict a single scene when put together. The twin dragons intertwined together, both with dark blue eyes. They were tailor made and took months to complete, but Ivan and the twins were incredibly pleased with the results.

Arthur admired the costume as he took care of Alfred, finally realizing that he'd never actually seen a show, and didn't even know what either of the twins did for their act.

Matthew was running short on time and left Alfred to Arthur, saying something about his act was in half and hour.

Arthur managed to get Alfred fixed up and applied the last of the medical tape to his gauze pads, throwing everything back into what he dubbed the 'medical duffle bag'.

Ivan had told Alfred and Arthur to take the night off earlier, more than likely because he knew Alfred would be in a bad mood because of the painful removal of his stitches.

Alfred groaned and rolled onto his back, holding his side. It didn't hurt as much as the original injury, but it still throbbed and ached.

"Stupid bastard…you'd think he'd learn a better way to take these things out by now." Arthur chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"He wouldn't have to if you didn't nearly kill yourself every performance."

Alfred grinned and playfully punched him in the arm. "Aw, shut it…I'm just glad I got the night off, but this should be better by like…tomorrow morning or something I hope." Alfred stated, rolling to his uninjured side, back facing the window. They fell into another contented silence, when Alfred's phone vibrated.

"Looks like Francis texted me…" He said, a small blush appearing on his cheeks.

Arthur frowned. "What does he want?"

"Um, well apparently Matt read my mind or something…Franny says Matt told him there's a party downtown night, and he wants to know if we wanted to come." He said hopefully, looking to Arthur. "You wanna come?" He said, grinning.

Sighing, Arthur gave a slight nod. "Alright…but only because you'll be there. Don't even think about leaving me alone with him." Alfred frowned and texted him back, and looked up to him.

"What's wrong with Francis?"

"I—he just—I really don't know. Or, I just can't…can't quite place what I don't like about him." Alfred stared at him, unimpressed with his answer. "He just rubs me the wrong way, I guess?" He tried, still not getting through to Alfred.

"Whatever…he was super nice to you, how could you not like him?" Alfred said defensively.

Another sigh. "Just drop it. Look, I'll be nice for your sake and try to get to know him, okay? It might just take awhile for us to click." Arthur doubted his own words, but Alfred grinned and gave him a small hug.

"Awesome! Trust me, you two are like complete opposites, I bet you'll become friends after awhile." He said cheerfully, replying to another text. "He'll be by around nine." The younger blond said excitedly, closing his phone and returning it to his pocket.

Arthur smiled slightly, not entirely thrilled about having to attend with Francis, but was happy anyways to spend time with the over-enthusiastic Alfred.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Alright, I know this is late. From now on I'll try to get a chapter up every Thursday night. This heat wave has been killer, so I haven't wanted to write at all this past week and half. Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and alerts guys! I didn't think my first fanfiction would receive such a warm welcome. And I actually have Al and Matt's performance outfits sketched out. The circus is indeed Chinese based and themed, you'll get to see more of that soon!**

**And yes, these chapters have gotten a bit longer. This chapter alone was over 4,000 words, and the last was about 3,000. I hope this isn't a problem, and if it is I can shorten the chapters again. **


	6. Meeting Reality

A dark figure loomed over a sleeping body. If it had a face, it would've frowned from impatience.

It paced slowly, waiting for the boy to wake up. The creature was young itself; it was barely more than a child. The boy had escaped last time, due to the creature's carelessness.

This time, it vowed, no mistakes would be made. The boy would accept his eventual fate, whether he liked it or not.

He stirred slightly, which caused the creature to snap to full alert, never taking its eyes off the boy.

"Mhn…" The boy rolled onto his back and his eyes fluttered open. He gasped and sat up, looking frightened and confused as he looked toward the creature.

There were no surroundings. It was completely white. No sense of up or down, left or right. Only he and what appeared to be a dark, moving void save for one thing: a bright, blue mark decorating the side of it.

Arthur panicked. It was the same shapeless, terrifying creature that had refused to move out of his mind, the same thing that had sent him to the town where the circus was a month ago.

In his internal panic, he realized his suspicions were confirmed. He saw the same mark on the man, and briefly wondered how the creature had tracked him down. Not that it mattered now that it had him in its grip. The Brit was positive these were his last moments, and chose to stay silent and composed, not letting the slightest hint of fear show through. He knew if he opened his mouth to say anything, the only thing that would come out would be sobs and screams begging for mercy.

If he was to die, it was going to be in a dignified manner.

It inched toward him, analyzing Arthur from every angle, before stopping directly in front of him.

It couldn't talk in its current form. In order to communicate the easiest, it started to shift its shape, contorting and twisting every which way, its curling wisps and unnatural edges and shapes changing into something recognizable and familiar.

Arthur's eyes widened as Alfred stood before him, smiling and walking to him, daring to sit down beside him.

Everything was the same. The dirty blond hair, the baby blue eyes, the naïve smile, even the way he walked and sat. Arthur was filled with a wonderful warmth and relief that calmed him down tremendously. He nearly went in for a hug when he realized just what he'd seen a few seconds ago.

Arthur opened his mouth to say something, before being cut off by Alfred.

"Relax. I don't want to hurt you. It's me, Alfred."

Arthur snarled and shook his head. He even sounded like him. "You can't be. You're…you're just like him, but you can't be. I just saw what you were not even a few minutes ago!"

The doppelganger frowned. "Again, just relax, okay? That was…my true form. I knew you'd be frightened. I'm sorry for that." He said it so sincerely that Arthur nearly believed him.

Shaking his head, Arthur brought his knees to chest. "You can't be…how…?" He started to tremble. It looked so much like Alfred, and it even radiated the same welcoming warmth and friendliness…it was hard not to jump into his arms.

Could it be that it was telling the truth? But if this were true, everything Alfred had ever told him was false. Not to mention this creature was so much more calm and reserved than the Alfred he knew. One of the very few and true friends he made was actually some sort of…monstrosity. The same monstrosity that ripped him from his family and left him alone and fearing for his life.

It had to be a trap. Arthur glared at him—it, he corrected himself—keeping a close eye on its limbs in case it made a sudden move. "I don't believe you at all. How could someone so…so sweet and kind force me away from my family, and then drop me off in some country I know nothing about? Alfred would never do that." He murmured insistently.

"This whole experience has made you stronger." It stated, looking at him with a small smile.

"W-What?" Arthur stammered, caught off guard.

"It's made you stronger. You know it, I know it…living by yourself, fending for yourself, doing everything yourself…you received some guidance from me, but other than that, you worked everything out yourself." It leaned in closer. "You aren't the same. You're stronger now. Stronger than most."

Arthur looked away and took a deep breath. "I…I suppose you're right. I sort of…feel different now."

"And that makes you a better person. You didn't quit and let yourself rot away or take a gun to your head. You toughed it out. A trooper, that's what you are." It smiled again, a smile that seeped into the very corners of Arthur's mind, and dashed all doubts he had about the creature. "I only pushed you along. I helped to make you stronger."

Arthur believed every word. The inconsistencies, the out of character behavior, the questions lingering in his mind—all were forgotten in a heartbeat. "Alfred…I…" He took another deep breath. "I have changed. I feel like I can take just about anything, exams and classes and classmates are nothing now." A small smile crept onto his lips. "Thank you for that. My family…they're fine, right?"

He nodded. "They're alive. As far as they know, you were lost in that forest you were all hiking in. They think you're dead now…what a surprise it'll be when you show up at their door! They're mourning, thinking they've lost the baby of the family." He shook his head and wrapped his arm around his shoulder. "Soon you get to go back home and be with them again. And I'll be there too." He said flirtatiously.

Arthur blushed and would have grinned, if it weren't for his little daze being temporarily broken by one question; the same question he'd been asking himself since the beginning of the whole mess. "But…why me?" He asked, pausing before continuing. "I'm not…I'm not anything spectacular. Why make me go through all this? Just so I could be a better person?"

He frowned. "Now that's a matter for another time. But to put it simply…well, you're incredibly important and special to me. Don't be fooled by my little act in the outside world. I care for you deeply, and only have your best interests at heart. I'll be visiting you like this again. I may or may not speak of these things in the outside world, it depends on if I need to tell you anything urgent."

"But—"

"Everything will be answered eventually. Just let me take care of everything for you from now on, alright?" He said with a warm, caring smile.

Arthur nodded and looked to him gratefully, feeling like all the responsibility and stress in the world had been lifted from his shoulders.

Alfred grinned and stood up, giving a brief smirk before transforming into the frightful creature again, and disappearing along with the all-white world.

* * *

><p>Suddenly awake, Arthur found he was still in bed with Alfred, where he had fallen asleep the night before.<p>

* * *

><p>The evening had started out nice.<p>

They had to walk on a path through a forest, where Arthur and Francis actually managed to have a good conversation. They talked about their countries and the members of the circus, and shared a few whispers about the twins. Alfred frowned when they whispered, but was put at ease when Francis assured him it wasn't anything bad. Arthur didn't consider Francis a friend yet, but at least he was someone to talk to.

Matthew wasn't able to join. He was busy with his performance and had to take care of the animals, which left Arthur, Francis, and Alfred alone together.

The party was mild. There was alcohol, but no drugs or people having sex in the bedrooms. It was fun, even though Arthur only had one cup of beer. He knew how he got when drunk, and refrained from accepting any more.

Everything was going smoothly until Alfred and Francis went off into their own little corner. Alfred was drunk after only a few drinks, this being the first time he ever drank alcohol. It was a surprising fact to Arthur, considering that Alfred smoked every day and Ivan was a big fan of heavy alcoholic drinks himself.

Alfred was hanging all over Francis, being obnoxiously flirtatious. Francis flirted right back, lovingly stroking the American's face and hair, even daring to rub his thigh gently.

Alfred absolutely adored the attention, basking in it as Francis smirked, knowing full well what he was doing. He knew all the right buttons to push and all the right things to say to make Alfred simply melt into his hands.

They started to kiss. Alfred would never admit that the kisses they shared were his first, but gladly kissed back. He was clumsy and accidentally clacked their teeth together a few times, but Francis said nothing about it, knowing that Alfred was young and prone to be inexperienced when it came to such things.

Arthur looked on to the scene. He scowled heavily, regretting that he'd come to the party suddenly.

He wasn't quite sure why. Sure, he thought it'd be nice to be a couple with Alfred, but he knew it wasn't all that realistic of a dream. He knew it wasn't much more than a crush based on the fact that he had no other friends with him, and the one close friend he had happened to be quite the looker. It was like looking to the head cheerleader or football captain and dreaming about the possibility of being with them, not really putting any serious thought or expectations in it. It had to be something else.

He came to his answer a few moments later.

It wasn't the flirting, the touching, or the kissing. The man had literally done nothing to him. There was that nagging feeling he felt at first, but now it made him grit his teeth and feel like strangling him. It vaguely reminded him of how he felt when he'd run into the problem that sent him there in the first place. He snarled and crushed his empty cup in his hands, suddenly feeling protective of Alfred and defensive of himself.

It seemed that at the exact moment Arthur had come to his conclusion, Francis suddenly had a pained expression on his face. He eased himself away from Alfred. Alfred would've been hurt by the sudden disinterest if it weren't for the fact that he were drunk, and looked at him confused as the Frenchman beckoned him to stand up.

Stumbling over to Arthur, Alfred found himself being supported by both him and Francis, and being taken from the party.

None of them were complaining about leaving the party, all for different reasons. Alfred was suddenly tired and wanted nothing more but to sleep. He seemed to be a mild and quiet drunk, much to Arthur's relief.

Once they were away from the music, Arthur started to hear a peculiar noise. He thought it was a bird at first, but realized it didn't fade or grow louder.

Arthur shivered, as did Alfred. Alfred was suddenly leaning into Arthur more, trembling at Francis' touch.

The noise sounded like someone had taken jingle bells or small pieces of metal and started to drop them in a glass jar. The sound itself wasn't all that unpleasant, but it sent a chill through Arthur's body that he wouldn't forget.

The familiar feeling of uneasiness came back, and he gritted his teeth and sent a glare to Francis.

Francis still had a pained expression on his face, but managed to send a glare back.

They made it to the hotel unscathed, where Francis made an excuse to leave, even though he was staying at the same hotel. Arthur crawled into bed next to Alfred, facing his back so he wouldn't have to smell the alcohol on his breath.

* * *

><p>He woke up feeling much better. He supposed he managed to sleep off whatever hangover he might've had, and Alfred had already gotten up and showered. He was laying at the foot of the bed, a peaceful expression on his face.<p>

His mind wandered to when he'd seen Alfred last night. Most people would've passed the whole experience off as a dream, but Arthur knew better.

And he knew Alfred was only putting on a show with Francis; those comforting words and the flirtatious way he said them could only mean that Alfred had his sights set on him, not the Frenchman or anyone else for that matter.

There were still some doubts and questions though. But Arthur was confident that he'd know everything soon, and crawled over to Alfred, snuggling up to him and dozing off.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hope you liked it! And for those wondering, Francis is 19. Things will get a little more confusing and supernatural for a bit, but I promise everything will be cleared up! And again, thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and alerts!**


	7. What If

The morning and early afternoon went well for everyone. Alfred had woken up early that day, and decided to take a shower before catching some more sleep. He sorely needed it, and cursed as his headache persisted mercilessly. What were you supposed to do for hangovers? Drink water? He sighed and gulped down two glasses of water before starting up the shower, hoping they would help at least a little.

Clumsily and slowly, he undressed and stepped into the shower.

Letting the hot water and soap run down his back, he realized he hardly remembered much else besides the blaring music and the walk home.

And the fact that he made out with Francis.

He paused and let that sink in.

Groaning, Alfred angrily took the wash rag and began to scrub himself down, going through his memories from the night before.

He had his first kiss, with Francis. While drunk. Well, he certainly hadn't planned his first kiss to be like that, but he couldn't undo it now.

Francis never specified whether or not it was kissing just for the hell of it, or kissing because he liked him…knowing Francis, it was the former. Alfred sighed and cracked his neck and back a bit, deciding not to confront Francis about it. There was no way he was seriously going to ask if a drunken kiss actually meant anything, and figured he'd have to wait until he could properly confess to Francis that he had a small crush on him.

_Who knows_, he thought, _maybe I'm just mistaking admiration for love again. Like always._

Alfred pondered over this for a while before shivering a bit despite the hot water and steam. Why had be been so restless and uneasy last night? He remembered Francis wrapping his arm around him to help him home, and for some reason this filled Alfred with both fear and longing. Fear overtook his senses and he shrunk away from his hands, almost instinctively.

But why had he done that? Normally he was…well, normal around him. He was never frightened of him, and the very fact that he was scared—terrified even—of the man, made his stomach churn. The times that Alfred had looked up to Arthur's face, Arthur had looked like he'd rather be anywhere but with Francis.

He scowled and deemed these thoughts and feelings childish, blaming it all on his drunken state and Arthur's overt distaste of the Frenchman.

He finished showering soon after and dried off, throwing on some clean boxers and a t-shirt before curling up on the foot of the bed. Arthur was out like a light, and it occurred to Alfred that he probably pissed him off the night before. He made a mental note to apologize later, and dozed off again, trembling at the strange nightmares he had about bells and glass falling.

* * *

><p>Alfred woke up in a cold sweat and panted lightly, burying his face into his hands. The sounds of bells and glass still lingered, and he quickly nudged Arthur awake. He didn't even know what the dream was about, but the sound was still playing in his ears.<p>

Arthur was awake at the third or fourth nudge, and slowly opened his eyes. "What is it, Alfred?" He asked. Alfred opened his mouth, but was interrupted but Matthew and Francis throwing open the door.

"About time!" Francis exclaimed, crossing his arms. Arthur glared and Alfred gave a small smile. "You two 'ave been sleeping this whole time?" He said in exasperation, his English slipping up a bit in his anger. "This is where you 'ave been, huh? Up, up this instant! You are to work the stands today, the first show is in two hours!" Alfred glanced at the clock and cursed, springing up as Arthur did. It was around two and Alfred didn't even know where his uniform was in the disorganized room, and started to look around.

Matthew was about half-dressed in his performance outfit and opened his suit case, bringing the rest of it out. He smiled in amusement as Arthur found his uniform and jumped into the shower, not even bothering to close the door.

Francis sighed, not in his outfit yet. "Why did you two sleep so long? You know your job, however menial, comes first." Clearly agitated, he also started to look around for Alfred's rather plain uniform, finding a pair of pants within the first few seconds.

Alfred rolled his eyes and caught the pants as Francis threw them to him. "Oh, shush. Like you didn't sleep a little longer after we all came home late last night." He chuckled as Matthew and Francis looked to him confused.

"Al, since when is eleven considered late for you?" Matthew teased, slipping another garment of clothing on.

"Eleven? Me, Arthur, and Francis were out until like…one or two dude. You were the one who probably went to bed at eleven."

Matthew and Francis frowned. "Alfred, I didn't go anywhere last night past ten. I was with Ivan in between shows and then with Matthew afterwards. We went to bed around eleven." Francis explained. "In fact, I didn't see you at all past that little meeting we had at the café. Nor did Matthew. Neither of you would answer your phones this morning, and when we came up, no one answered the door. We had to get the receptionist to give us the key to your room." Matthew nodded and agreed to all this.

"Yeah, we only got two keys, remember? Mine got locked in here last night and you gave the other to Arthur."

"Um, no, that is not what went down!" Alfred insisted, standing up from his knees. By now Arthur was out of the shower again and dressing.

"What are you talking about?" Arthur asked curiously, walking into the room and he was pulling his shirt over his chest.

"Dude, they're totally saying that Francis wasn't with us last night! He totally was, you could smell the alcohol on his breath and everything! He even helped me home!" Matthew frowned at the mention of alcohol.

"Wait, Al, you were—"

"I did no drinking last night!" Francis protested, cutting Matthew off. "I had a show to run; even Ivan knows not to drink before or during show hours!"

"Wait, what the hell are you all going on about?" Arthur asked, clearly confused. "Francis, you were definitely there! You got Alfred drunk and made out with him."

"Yeah! I—"

"Francis!" Matthew exclaimed. "How did you forget about me telling you to keep your hands off Alfred?" He said, angry now. "You ass, you left after I went to sleep, didn't you?"

"No! No, no, no, no, absolutely not! I went to sleep at eleven, woke up at seven, and now we're here! I did not make out or even touch Alfred past that greeting I gave him yesterday, I 'ave no clue what these two are rambling about."

"Um, we left at like nine, he couldn't have been with you past nine." Alfred said in response to Matthew's claim.

"Exactly. Both of us clearly remembered what happened, so you can't just pin this whole thing on an overactive imagination or something." All four stayed silent a minute or two, before Alfred brought out his phone and started to frantically flip through.

"I even have pictures, and the texts too," He said as he brought one picture up, dated at around ten. "See?" All three looked at the picture, before flipping through the others which were dated up until around one am.

Matthew frowned and looked at the pictures, before pulling out his own phone. "I have videos of him from yesterday afternoon until nine-thirty, performing."

"I didn't even have time to text anyone past our meeting." Francis said as he saw the texts. "These aren't even from my number, but it's listed under my name…are you sure you had the correct Francis?"

Alfred nodded. "I only know one Francis, and that's you! So either you and Matt forgot what happened, or you have like…a twin brother or clone or something." Arthur tensed up at these words, and unsubtly moved to loop his arm with Alfred's. Alfred looked a bit shocked but didn't remove his arm, choosing to focus on the matter at hand.

"Apparently, the Francis we were with last night was an imposter." Arthur concluded, clinging tightly to Alfred's arm. He'd have to ask Alfred later about the whole thing, but seeing how he acted as surprised and confused as everyone else, he probably didn't know much either.

Francis sighed and shook his head. "None of this makes any sense. According to your phones, I was at two different places at the same time, which we all know is impossible, so it has to be someone impersonating me." Matthew nodded and returned to putting his costume on.

"Ugh, ew! That means I made out with a total stranger, what if I have mono or something?" Alfred said in a panicked voice, before rambling on about it. "Dude, I have to go to the doctor's tonight, doesn't mono kill within twenty-four hours? Or what if I got, like, AIDS or something! Oh god, I'm gonna die, or if I don't die I'm never going to have sex because no one wants to have sex with a diseased filled—"

"Look, let's talk about this later. Obviously we need to clear some things up, but right now we have a show to run." Matthew stated calmly, knowing that something major was going on.

Alfred hesitated but nodded, momentarily forgetting about his perceived predicament. "Alright. We need to talk to Ivan too and ask if he's seen poser Francis, so let's met up with him after the last show."

They all nodded and gave noises of approval, before Matthew and Francis left the hotel room, leaving Alfred and Arthur to find the rest of Alfred's uniform.

* * *

><p>Arthur groaned and practically fell to the ground covered in sleeping bags, pillows, and blankets.<p>

According to Ivan, there had been a gas leak sometime during their shift, so Alfred, Matthew, and Arthur were forced to sleep in the tent again.

And after a long night of work, it was a nightmare getting it up.

Alfred fell beside him, as did Matthew. They only bothered to pitch the tent, put the air conditioner in, and threw some things to sleep on in.

And because of Alfred, Arthur now had a sleeping bag.

It was in the shape of the shark and meant to look like it was eating him when he was laying in it. At the end of their shift, Alfred proudly shoved the thing toward him, shouting "Happy Birthday, Art!" for all to hear. Of course, Arthur blushed furiously and tried to refuse it, making up excuses like "It's not my birthday!", or "I don't have a gift to give back!", but Alfred would have none of that and laughed it off. Arthur accepted it shyly, thinking he'd have to make up for it later and get him a gift in return.

So, there he was, looking rather ridiculous with just his head popping out of the shark's mouth. Luckily, all of their things were returned and Arthur was able to change into some pajamas, so at least he wasn't practically dying in the itchy and uncomfortable uniform.

The meeting with Ivan was brief and unhelpful. Ivan gave a "That's strange…" and then a "No, I haven't seen anyone like that." Everyone was too tired to press any further, and instead headed to their tents.

Arthur was just about to fall asleep, facing Matthew, who for once decided to stay in for the night. A sudden thought struck him. Alfred and Matthew both claimed to be twins.

If Alfred was the shape-shifter, then did that make Matthew one too?

Arthur suddenly realized there was so much he didn't know, and that thought made him curl up and feel oh-so alone again.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Finished this 20 min. before the deadline! I hope you enjoyed it, please review, alert, and favorite!**


	8. Equinox Gems

It had been nearly a month, and Arthur hadn't heard a peep of going back home from Alfred. By now he had reluctantly dismissed the whole event as a strange dream, and went back to saving up what little money he received from his job in the hopes that he'd have enough to eventually fly back home and renew his now-expired passport.

They didn't get to go to another country; instead they were stuck in Washington with Francis and his family, something that they all deeply regretted. They all agreed to take two months off just to relax, especially since Alfred still wasn't in prime condition to do any shows. Arthur managed to find a job looking after peoples' gardens in the city, which paid very little.

Alfred trudged through the door, yawning lightly. All three sent a nasty glare to him.

Lately, Alfred seemed to be dealing with…distressing mood swings. Most days he was his normal self. Making silly jokes, helping out around the house, teasing everyone in a playful manner. On occasion though, it seemed like he switched bodies with some nasty and spiteful person. He was almost borderline abusive, though that was only toward Arthur.

Francis seemed to be his normal self, but tended to strike up conversation with Arthur more than Alfred nowadays, which was both odd but reasonable considering the way Alfred had been acting.

Arthur gritted his teeth, hoping Alfred was feeling normal or especially friendly today.

No such luck. Alfred glared at him and sat down at the table where Arthur was having some tea and a late supper.

"I hope you're not gonna eat all that. You're getting fat." He stated coldly.

Arthur frowned and put a spoonful of his leftovers back on the plate. The demeaning comments were starting to get to him, and just that morning he found himself letting out a few choked sobs when he looked at himself in the mirror.

"Not even gonna talk to me? Christ, you're lucky I even wanna be your friend considering that you don't wanna say a word to me." He chided, looking bored with him.

After a few moments of tensed silence, Alfred suddenly stood up and darted past Arthur to the laundry room, where the back door was at.

That was another 'distressing' thing everyone had noticed about him. He randomly left and came back a few minutes later, completely calm and smiling, acting like he hadn't done anything wrong.

Today hadn't proved to be any different, and Alfred came back fifteen minutes later with a grin on his face.

"Heya Artie! I brought a mini-pizza for you!" He exclaimed, walking over to the couch where Arthur had moved to. Arthur frowned and took the pizza, glaring at it.

Alfred sat next to him and hungrily devoured his within ten minutes. Arthur ate two pieces of his and then put it in the fridge, before returning to his place next to Alfred.

Francis took this opportunity to wrap his arm around the Brit's shoulders, earning an annoyed roll of the eyes from Arthur and a glare from Alfred. Francis seemed to be cozying up to Arthur more and more, and other times he was all over Alfred's twin.

Alfred and Francis were no longer on speaking terms. According to Arthur and Matthew, Alfred had started the whole thing by throwing insults around. Alfred insisted it was the other way around, but either way, they both heavily disliked each other now.

Everything Francis did grated on Alfred's nerves. He flirted with both his brother and best friend, his accent was annoying, and worst of all, he touched Arthur _entirely _too much. Matthew didn't seem to mind it, but Arthur was agitated by the fact that he was too touchy and soon slapped Francis' arm off of him.

Overall, by the fifth day they were together, they were all sick of each other.

* * *

><p>If there was one word to describe how Arthur had been lately (and if he didn't wish to offend), it would be 'clingy'. Always wanting to be with him, wrapping his arms around him when they slept in the same bed, walking in on him while he was showering like it was no big deal…Arthur wasn't exactly the friendliest person to him for some reason for the first week they were in Washington, but this past week he had warmed up to him again. It was a little suffocating.<p>

But on occasions like this, it wasn't necessarily bad.

Before Alfred and Arthur, stood…well, Alfred. Alfred held onto Arthur's arm, staring at the imitation him.

The fake Alfred frowned and looked like he was deep in thought, before lifting up his hoodie.

The skin was scarred, just like Alfred's. Put side by side, one would not be able to tell the difference between the two.

Suddenly, a bright blue marking appeared on his side. It started below his waistline and extended up to his chest, elaborate and impossible to replicate. It started to pulsate, throbbing and glowing slightly. The form started to fall away, and soon a black creature was left in its place.

Alfred gasped and clung tighter to Arthur, who did the same in return. Arthur looked even more confused than him, and was shaking slightly.

The black figure started to shift again. This caused Alfred to scream once he realized there were now two Arthurs in the room, and he backed up into the wall, bringing the real Arthur with him.

"Well…that certainly didn't last long." It snarled, the spitting image of Arthur. "And it took forever to track you…once I did find you, that other guy wouldn't let me anywhere near you."

Alfred closed his eyes. Where was he before? He took a shower, Arthur walked in and started brushing his teeth, they headed to bed…and he fell asleep.

This had to be a dream. He tried to force himself awake, but to no avail.

"As you've figured out, I wasn't really Alfred." Arthur looked wide- eyed, feeling like a complete idiot for believing him. "However, I'm going to make you an offer. Normally I'd wait until the solstice or equinox to do this, but my power is draining fast. Do as I say now and you'll receive something special during the autumn equinox." It said, before taking a few steps closer.

Alfred opened his eyes and took a deep breath, choosing to stay silent and wait out what he thought was a dream.

Arthur frowned and shook his head. "You lied to me before, why should I believe you now."

It smirked. "What you have to do is simple. Whisper your most precious memory into my ear, and I'll show you what's in it for you."

Arthur hesitated and sighed. "Fine. Only because I want to get this all over quickly." He leaned over and cupped his hands over his ear, feeling odd whispering to himself.

It took a minute or two for him to tell It the whole thing. He pulled away and scowled, waiting impatiently.

"Interesting memory. And here is what I have for you." It said plainly, holding out its hand. It's skin seemed to take on a healthier glow though, and even his eyes were a bit more vibrant.

A small gift box appeared in It's hand. It was green with a dark brown bow, and It handed it to Arthur.

Arthur hesitated once again before taking the box. He was about to open it when Alfred blurted out, "Wait! It's probably anthrax or something!" Arthur frowned and considered that it might be something dangerous, but opened it anyways.

A decently sized, heart shaped emerald now laid in his hands. It was truly beautiful, and both Alfred and Arthur gave a little gasp. It was cut beautifully, and sparkled better than any gem either had ever seen, and had an amazingly vibrant color. The emerald was warm to the touch as well, and if Arthur wrapped his hand around it, it also throbbed faintly. Arthur ran his fingers over the surface, truly enamored with the precious stone. However, he couldn't help but feel strangely empty…

"It's beautiful, isn't it? And it'll easily fetch several thousand dollars." It said suddenly, smiling.

Arthur nearly choked on his own spit. "S-Several thousand dollars?"

"You heard correctly. And there's much more than that in store if you just stick around for another month." It said with a chuckle, before turning It's gaze to Alfred. "Would you like one as well? Just whisper your most precious memory in my ear."

Alfred took one more glance at the emerald and nodded eagerly. At least if it wasn't a dream, he'd get something valuable, right?

He took a moment to think it over, before leaning over to the man and whispering his memory into It's ear.

It smiled. "Truly fantastic and dangerous! And here is your gift for sharing that with me." In It's hand appeared a blue box with white ribbon.

Alfred tore the ribbon apart and greedily grabbed the stone. "It's sapphire." It said with a grin.

Alfred looked over it carefully. It was heart shaped, like Arthur's, and was just as beautifully designed. Despite its beauty, Alfred couldn't help but feel a bit empty as well.

"You'll both get far more than this later on. We'll meet again on the autumn equinox. Your two memories have refreshed me and will keep me going until then. Do whatever you want with the stones. Sell them, keep them, bury them, give them away…I don't particularly care." It said nonchalantly.

Neither said a word for a few moments, but Alfred soon spoke up. "Give us more of this next time and I'll come back every damn day!" He grinned and carefully put his back in his box, and tied the ribbon up again. Arthur did the same and slipped it into Alfred's hoodie pocket, before wrapping his arms around Alfred again.

"Also! If you've been wondering why blondie here," It said as it gestured to Alfred, "is being such an ass, well, you can blame that on the other shape-shifter. He's been trying to get you to hate me, but I drove him outta town. Here's something that will tell you whether or not something or someone's a shape-shifter." It produced two necklaces with what looked like mini versions of their gems on them, and tossed them to the boys.

"They'll glow when there's a shape-shifter within a hundred miles. The brighter they glow, the closer they are." It said with a smirk. Alfred was about to complain about the 'girly' design, but was interrupted by It. "I'll see you both during the autumn equinox."

Suddenly, Alfred and Arthur both awoke. Alfred was in a cold sweat, and Arthur sat up. He threw the covers off and gazed around, before his eyes settled on two gift boxes sitting on the edge of Alfred's bed.

Alfred slowly sat up, and his eyes fell on the boxes near his feet.

"It wasn't a dream!" They both gasped out, leaping for their boxes.

Inside were the gems, just as beautiful as before. They looked at each other in amazement, not quite believing it.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So you're probably wondering why this was updated early. Well, the answer is: I won't be updating this anymore (or at least taking a hiatus), due to lack of interest on this, and the fact that I planned this out poorly. My goal was actually 30 reviews by chapter 8, but since I only got 2 reviews on the last chapter, I know I messed up something. More than likely I'll be reusing some ideas from this into a future fic, and if not, I'll probably rewrite this some day. I hope you will enjoy my future fics though!**


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